Country Lovin'
by Valier
Summary: When Carlin decided to stay with her aunt for the summer, she imagined a long and relaxing stay in the country. Instead, she befriends Joey, Yami, Marik, Fia and the shy Ryou, turning her calm summer into a world of fun and chaos... RyouxOC
1. Chapter 1

**Konnichiwa people! Firstly, thanks a bunch for clicking on this story. I appreciate that you want to read it :) Also, I must thank _sunshine dasies_ for inspiring me to write this story. How, you may ask? She walked around. Seriously, my inspiration came from _sunshine dasies_ walking on grass XD Anyway, enjoy the chapter of my first RyouxOC fic!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Yu-Gi-Oh in any way, nor do I own Tokyo Mew Mew for it's brief mention. My OC, Carlin, _is_ mine however.  
**

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Averting my evergreen eyes from my manga, I glanced out of the car window for the first time in... about 30 minutes? Yowzers, how the scenery had changed. No longer was I facing the bustling Domino City, but instead, the lush Japanese countryside. The grass and plants were a perfect green, swaying slightly in the light breeze, the fields of rice plants and barley rippling as the breeze danced over them too. The sky was a strong blue, with one tiny cloud in the middle of it, tragically far from the sun that was bothering my eyes. Diverting them to get rid of the sunshine flash, I spoke for the first time since leaving Domino,

"Are we there yet? We must've been travelling for a _year_ now!"

My parents sighed from my dramatics, and my mother turned in her seat to face me,

"Carlin, stop being such a drama queen. And if you took your eyes off that silly little book for _one_ second, you'd realise the village is up ahead."

"Tokyo Mew Mew is _not_ silly..."I muttered, looking out of the window again. True to my mother's words, a small village lay ahead. It's houses were quaint and it looked quite peaceful. A hill lay at the opposite end of it, but I paid no attention to it. As the car approached it more and more, I began to see that it's residents were either walking, or on bicycles. They looked _reasonably_ friendly too.

"Now Carlin, it's a pleasure that your aunt's agreed to have you for the summer. Be polite, and don't get into any trouble. Also, there are lots of nice spots around here, so go outside instead of sitting cooped up, okay?"

My father eyed me through rear view mirror and I nodded. I still wasn't sure about this whole 'Staying with my aunt for the summer' thing, but since I was going to start in Domino High School, my parents thought it would be for the best if I had something that occupied my summer with _not_ thinking about school. Looking back out of the window, I noticed some of the villagers were looking at the car, and in turn, at me. Flashing my head back into my manga, I asked,

"So, where does aunt Patricia live?"

"Up there, on top of that hill."

After craning my neck and crushing my head against the glass of the window, I still couldn't see the top of the hill, so unbuckling my seatbelt and winding the widow down, I stuck my torso out and lifted my neck up.

"Carlin! Get back in here _now_!"

I ignored my parents demands, as my mouth hung open. A _mansion_. That's where I was staying. A. Frickin'. Mansion. Not the biggest mansion, but it was still pretty big. It's walls were white wood with ivy twisting it's way up the frames. Large glass doors on the upper levels were accompanied by balconies. It was beautiful. Pulling myself back inside, I bombarded my parents with questions,

"Why didn't you tell me aunt Patricia lived in a mansion? I know I've met her before, but why didn't I know? Is she rich or something? Is she _famous_? A queen? Does that mean I'm a princess?"

My mother gave an exasperated groan and replied,

"We didn't tell you because we _knew_ you'd act like _this_. She used to be a popular wedding dress designer. She's retired now though."

"This is _so cool_!"I squealed, hugging my manga to my chest and lying back on the back seats of the car. Closing my eyes, I drifted off to my imaginary land with an even bigger mansion, _lots_ of jewels and a Winged Kuriboh. Ahh, Winged Kuriboh...

"Carlin, we're here! Get up."

"Huh?"

Reluctantly jolting myself from my daydream, I noticed that the car had indeed stopped, and I was sitting alone in the car, hugging a pink book and mumbling about a furry ball with wings. Outside, I could see my parents chatting with my aunt, a short woman with a kind face and smile. They noticed me still in the car, and my father beckoned for me to come out. Cautiously reaching for the door handle, I stuffed Tokyo Mew Mew back into my bag and slid it onto my shoulder. As soon as I hopped out of the car, there was one thing I felt. _Heat_. Now, don't get me wrong, I _love_ warm days, but _this_ heat... I pray to Ra, why is it so _hot_? As I walked over to my parents and aunt, I could feel myself heating up and sweating slightly in my jeans and t-shirt, having lost the shade of Domino's skyscrapers.

"Hello Carlin! You've really grown since I last saw you. You're not a 7 year old any more."my aunt chuckled. Smirking, I replied,

"Nope. I'm a 15 year old otaku, who has recently reached the height of 5'5''."

I brought my shoulders back and stood tall at that comment and heard everyone chuckle.

"Okay, hun, calm down and enjoy yourself here, 'kay? We'll be here to pick you up on the first Friday of September."my mother told me, pecking me on the cheek.

"We'll be here at around 3:00. Bye doll."

My father hugged me and both of them made their way back into the car, before driving back through the village and heading off to rejoin the main motorway.

"You must be hot in them jeans. Did you bring any shorts?"my aunt asked me, looking me up and down. I nodded and she lead the way to the front door of the mansion. Once we were stood on the porch I felt a whole lot cooler, since it was shaded, but the heat still got to me.

"D'you want to come in? It's air conditioned in here."

"Okay!"

I skipped forward, swinging my bag and ready to feel cold air, when,

"Hey Trisha!Dere was a car dat came up he-Who da hell's she?"

A strong Brooklyn accent yelled at us, and I found myself face-to-face with a blonde boy, pointing at my face.

"Joey! That's my niece you're pointing at!"

My aunt said that in a tone that wasn't necessarily _angry_, but not happy-happy either. Does she _know_ this boy?

The boy "Oohh!"ed and dropped his hand by his side, replying,

"I didn't know you had a niece."

"Well now you do. I'm Carlin."I said, nodding at him. He smiled and grabbed my hand, shaking it while saying,

"Nice ta meet ya Carlin, I'm Joey, Joey Wheeler. Sorry if I scared ya a little, but I ain't never seen you 'round here before."

Smirking at his enthusiasm, I told him,

"I'm staying with my aunt for the summer. I'm from Domino City, and I'm starting high school when I go back."

"Really? _You're_ from _Domino City_? That's so cool! Wait 'till Yami and Marik hear about this..."

And with that, he bolted, waving at me and my aunt, calling,

"I'll see youse two later, 'kay? And it was nice ta meet ya Carlin!"

I stood motionless on the porch, trying to regain myself. All that had happened so fast... I heard my aunt chuckle behind me and I turned to face her, making a face that said, "What?"

"Joey may seem a little hyperactive, but he's a nice boy really. He's just got too much energy really. The same could be said for his friends too, I suppose. Joey seemed in such a rush to tell them about you, so no doubt you'll meet them soon."

I chuckled to myself, and walked into the mansion, moaning happily as cold air hit me square in the face. Dropping my bag to the floor, I allowed the air-con to engulf me in coldness, as my aunt walked towards what looked like the kitchen.

"Auntie?"

"Yes?"

"Why was Joey so excited to meet me?"

"Well, not many people move in around here, not young ones at least, so even if he'll only have a summer with you, it's someone new for him to talk to. Plus, him and his friends set up a bet a few months ago. Whoever meets a person from Domino City first gets ¥15,000."

I laughed when I heard that and guessed that for ¥15,000, I would be the same. Still smiling to myself as I walked over to close the door, I peered over the village one last time, taking in all the buildings, and noticing something new. On the outskirts of the village, was a small ranch. It was red with white beams, and I really wondered how I hadn't noticed it beforehand, it was such a nice building. I turned back to closing the door, when something caught my eye. From the ranch, a person was emerging, leading a jet black horse from the stables. They had long white hair, and their clothes consisted of (from what I could see) a long, open blue shirt, with a stripy navy and white t-shirt underneath. It appeared that they were wearing tight white jeans, but I could have been mistaken. I watched as they mounted the horse with such grace, before riding off into the valleys, their hair billowing behind them. I'd never seen _anyone_ ride so gracefully before... But now, I guess it was an everyday thing, because this place? Well, it was my new home.

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**Okay, if you're thinking, 'That chapter totally sucked', I'm on the same bandwagon. I'm happy with literally the first 3 sentences of this, and the rest I'm not so proud of, but after 5 re-writes, it was the best I could think of. If you wish to read more, I promise that future chapters will be better, although the POV may switch around. And before anyone asks, Yami is Yami Yugi/Atem, Marik is Marik Ishtar, not his Yami and Joey's accent is hard to write. I also did my best to slip Ryou into this chapter, even if only for a few lines ;) Please let me know what you think in a review, but please, constructive criticism instead of flames!**

**Mew Mew Radish ='.'=**

**P.S. ¥15,000= £111 or $181**


	2. Chapter 2

**Yo peeps! Well, here's your second chapter, this time, with lots more Ryou! Anyway, I think this chapter loses it's appeal about halfway though, but have a read and see what you think, 'kay? Oh, and thanks to those who reviewed my first chapter! It's inspirational to know people like your work :)  
**

**Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! belongs to some guy in Japan, and I suppose (minorly) to 4Kids too. Plus, you've probably heard about the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan on Friday? More than 1000 people have lost their lives in it, and the number is rising. This chapter goes out to those who lost their lives. R.I.P**

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Sunlight poured through the glass doors on either side of my bed. Birds sang to the morning sun as it sent it's heat and light to Earth. Townsfolk chattered happily down at the village, greeting each other as they wandered through the Sunday market. And what time was this? _7:32am_. Damn countryside. Sitting upright and rubbing my eyes, I swung my legs over the side of the double-bed and climbed out. Glancing out of the door/window, I glared at the village that had woken me up, and then at the blue sky. It was a _Sunday_ for Ra's sake! The day you're _supposed_ to lie-in on! Huffing, I pushed the doors to the balcony open and walked out, feeling the heat of the early morning hit me like a brick.

"Frick, it's hot today..."I mumbled, rubbing my forehead and scanning my eyes back to the ranch. In the sunlight, the red was that of a neon sign, and I smirked at the thought of it lighting up each night like one. Becoming too caught up in my fantasy, I almost missed the horse than ran from the stables. It was the same jet-black one from yesterday, and the same white-haired person ran after it, grabbing it's reins and trying to prevent it's escape. I watched blankly as they proved to be stronger than they looked, pulling the horse back to the entrance of the stable, before doubling-up as it kicked them square in the stomach. I winced as they fell to their knees, clutching their middle and undeniably sobbing as the horse ran off into the valley. A taller man with blue hair came out of the ranch, running to the crying person and brushing their fringe away from their face. I turned back to go inside as the blue-haired man helped the white-haired girl back into the ranch. I shouldn't have been making assumptions like that, but with their long hair and quite slender figure, they looked enough like a girl to me. I sighed, hoping the girl would be okay as I grabbed a purple cardigan from my bag and slid it over my pyjamas as I walked downstairs. I heard distinct laughing from the kitchen, and I arched my eyebrows, heading over to see what was up. As soon as I opened the door though, I regretted it. I saw my aunt standing by the cooker, making what I believed to be pancakes, with Joey and two boys I'd never seen before sitting at the table. One had long sandy-blonde hair, with lilac eyes and a strong tan. He must've been extremely warm too, as his sleeveless light purple shirt was low-cut, exposing his abs to everyone. They _were_ nice abs though...

The other boy had pale skin, purple eyes and the most magnificent hair I'd ever seen. Spiky and tricoloured, it stood out like a sore thumb. He was wearing more reasonable attire than the other boy though, a blue jacket and (leather?) trousers with a black tank top. Around his neck was a navy choker and a chain, on the end of which was an upside down gold pyramid, a symbol similar to the Eye of Horus in the middle.

The gaze of the three boys was planted firmly on me, and I felt my cheeks turn red as they scanned me. I cleared my throat and averted my eyes, pulling my cardigan further around my pyjamas. Trust my aunt to not tell me that we had guests. Plus, my pyjamas were hardly decent, what with the shorts and tank top.

"Hey Carlin! You're finally up!"Joey cheered, running to me and forcing me into the seat between him and the tanned boy.

"What can I say. The country isn't exactly _quiet_..."I sighed, and everyone laughed, including my aunt, who was now serving the pancakes onto plates.

"I guess the market woke you."she said, placing a plate in front of me, "Yeah, people are up pretty early for the market. This lot are always up early, and come for breakfast every Sunday."

The boys chuckled and I shot her a 'And you _couldn't_ have told me that, could you?' look. She smirked and continued handing out plates, until Joey exclaimed,

"Carlin, I forgot you haven't met these two! These are my best buds!"

"Nice to meet you, Carlin. I'm Yami."

"Marik, same here."

The boys seemed quite polite, and I felt more comfortable around them, now I knew their names. As we began to eat, I became more acquainted with Yami and Marik (who decided to name me 'Carly'), while Joey struggled with the syrup bottle. I seemed to understand Yami the most, as he was the most level-headed by far, but Joey and Marik were both equally great guys too.

"Hey Carly."

"Aha?"

"Nice pyjamas."Marik winked, only to be bathed in white as half a bag of flour was emptied over his head. He swore as he coughed and spluttered dust from his lungs and turned to face my aunt, holding the offending bag. I turned bright red at his comment and stretched my cardigan to ripping point to cover myself.

"What the frig was that for?"

"My niece is here for you to be friends with, not to flirt with when you've just met her. And watch your language, young man."my aunt winked and walked away, rolling up the bag before exiting the kitchen.

"I wasn't _flirting_..."he muttered, beating some of the flour from his shirt. Yami and Joey joined in, ruffling the flour from his hair, while I dampened a cloth for his face. Handing it to him, I smacked him lightly around the head.

"_Now_ what have I done?"

I smirked and replied simply,

"Idiot."

**~YGO!~**

The main street of the village was bustling as I walked down it, my new friends beside me. After cleaning Marik up, I dressed myself and we headed down to the village so the boys could show me around. Marik attracted quite a bit of attention from passers by, as his clothes and hair were still mostly white. It didn't help that he would occasionally smack his head, trying to rid himself of the white powder in his ears either. As we passed the tailor's shop (which Joey's parents owned), I saw the ranch in the distance, and that reminded me of the white-haired girl.

"Who lives in the ranch over there?"I asked, pointing to it. The boys looked at me and Yami answered,

"The ranch? The Bakura's live there. They don't really leave it much, but sometimes you see them around town or out on their horses."

"Like today! Look, it's Ryou!"

Following Marik's finger, I found myself looking at the same white-haired girl from before. Her brown eyes were quite upset, and around a strip of bandages around her stomach could be seen through her top. She was also one _seriously_ flat-chested girl.

"Hey, Ryou! How are ya man?"Joey called, running over to he-Wait, 'man'?

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Man? I thought he was a girl!"I yelled, turning a bright red when Joey, Marik and Yami turned to stare at me and Ryou flushed pink, an embarrassed and forced smile donning his features. My friends erupted into hysterics, rolling on the ground and clutching their sides, everyone in the main market now watching them in amazement.

"Y-y-y-y-y-you t-thought R-R-R-Ryou was a _g-g-g-girl_?"Marik spluttered, almost choking on his laughter. While the boys rolled on the floor, I made my way over to Ryou and tried to find my voice,

"Erm... Sorry about that... I-it's just, well..."

"I know I do look a little feminine, it's okay! But, how have you seen me before? I'm sure we've never met."his voice was sweet and had a distinct British accent, like mine.

"I saw you at the ranch from my balcony. Did you get kicked by a horse this morning?"

He nodded and he looked at the ground in despair, his arms sliding around his middle.

"Are you okay?"

He nodded again and said,

"The horse that kicked me was called Kuroi. I don't understand what could have made him get so riled up, he's normally so calm. And then... he kicked me... I've taken care of him since he was a foal, we grew up together. He must have been so angry to do something like that..."

A single tear slid down his pale face, and I opened my mouth to speak when I heard my aunt shout,

"Carlin, I'm going to sort these clowns out! I'll be done with them in about half an hour!"

Joey and Marik were still hysterical, and had their arms slung around each other's shoulders as they stumbled back to the mansion. Meanwhile, Yami was a lot calmer, his shoulders still shaking from laughter, but other than that he looked normal. He waved to me as he followed his friends and I wondered how my aunt got there as I arched my eyebrows at them. Weirdos.

Turning back to Ryou, he had dried his tear away, but his eyes were still glassy.

"So you're Patricia's niece? I hoped to meet you while you were here."he smiled "You probably already know this, but I'm Ryou Bakura."

"I'm Carlin Aizawa. You're ranch is really pretty, y'know? Do you have other horses there?"

He nodded and said,

"I can teach you to ride sometime, if you want."

"That'd be cool. Can't do stuff like that in the city."

We started walking, and kept talking, not caring where we walked to, but I did learn that Ryou moved to the country when he was 6. He'd been there for 10 years... When we finally decided to realise where we were, we had walked all the way through the village, down to the ranch.

"Wow! It's even more amazing up close!"

As I took in every detail of the building, my view soon shifted to Ryou, who was looking out across the valley, tears sliding down his face again. Walking over and placing a hand on his shoulder, I asked,

"What's wrong?"

Suddenly, I felt him dive into me, his arms encircling my back while he sobbed into my shoulder. I was caught completely off guard by this, and as he talked, my arms slowly fell around him,

"After Kuroi kicked me, he ran off into the valley and he hasn't come back. I'm scared for him. He's never done anything like this before, and there's supposed to be a storm tonight."

I tried my best to calm him and it seemed to work a little, as he relaxed into my embrace.

'_Hang on_' I thought '_I hardly know him, I shouldn't be hugging him! But he's had a bad day... And I suppose calling him a girl didn't really help either..._'

Shaking my head slightly, I realised Ryou had stopped crying, and now stood hugging me like a teddy bear. His fluffy hair tickled my face and never mind me, he _was_ a teddy bear. Or a kitty. Or whatever.

"Ryou! Come and give me a hand in here!"

He pulled sharply away from me and muttered his apologies, before running to the stables, where the voice came from.

"I'll see you later then?"his voice sounded almost optimistic.

"Yeah. I'll see you later."I confirmed nodding to his smiling face and turning to walk back to the mansion.

"Ohhh! Carly's got a boyfriend!"Marik cheered, jumping out of nowhere and punching the air. Rolling my eyes, I shook my head and said,

"I hardly know him! And if this is 'cause I was hugging him, he's had a bad day. He got kicked by a _horse_, for Ra's sake!"

"Dat ain't what it looked like to us. You were huggin' him for about 15 minutes."Joey smirked, running to join Marik as we started walking through the village. Yami stayed behind, and walked alongside me, his hands in his pockets as his pyramid pendant continuously hit off his chest.

"Yami? Do you guys actually _know_ Ryou?"

He glanced sideways at me and said,

"Sort of. We're not as close to him as with each other, but that was different when we were younger. As we've got older, he just... disappeared, really. Joey and Marik would call me a fool for saying this, but I do worry about Ryou sometimes. He's always so alone since his sister died 6 years ago, and if you and him can get along, I encourage you to be his friend. I think he sees her in you, his sister. You've got the same accent, you both have curly hair, you both have green eyes. That may be why he was hugging you like he had known you for years. He thought you were Amane..."

He seemed to drift off a little towards the end, and I reflected on what I had just learnt. Ryou had a sister? A _dead_ sister. I couldn't blame him for becoming so isolated after losing her, and if I could help him, I would.

"If I can help him, even only a little, then I will. I can't imagine losing a sibling, mainly 'cause I have none, but it must be awful."

Yami nodded as we continued walking, and even as Joey and Marik stood at the top of the hill, yelling for us to hurry up, my mind lay with Ryou, the lonely little angel. It seemed I still had a lot to learn about him, but I would do my best to understand him, and to be his friend, one step at a time.

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**:) Okay, good chapter, bad chapter, chalk and cheese? Lemme know what you think! Also, before you ask, Marik's personality is most likely to be a mix of his Abridged personality and what I can remember of his 4Kids one. I haven't seen an episode with him in for years. Yami wears his Battle City outfit too (I'm not sure how well I described it). His Millennium Puzzle does nothing, but he's incomplete without it, so he wears it to look cool :) Please review, and until next time,**

**Ciao!**

**Mew Mew Radish ='.'=  
**


	3. Chapter 3

**Say 'Yay!' for chapter 3 guys! Okay, so what's it been, like a friggin' _month_ since I updated this? Pretty much. I apologise, but I was sorting out what I'm going to do with this chapter, and indeed story. Do not fret though, I finally know what I shall do :) Anyway, this chapter introduces Sophia 'Fia' Fujihara, an OC of mine based almost entirely on my best friend _sunshinedasies _(or Sophia, as I like to call her). So, I hope you enjoy this chapter and welcome my new OC!**

**Disclaimer: I don't own Dento/Cilan from Pokemon, Harry Potter, or indeed Yu-Gi-Oh! I just use the characters for my (and your) entertainment :)**

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I sat cross-legged on my bed, letting the sun spill onto the masterpiece before me. Well, if you could call it that.

My drawing was one of Dento from Pokémon, and I was proud of it, even if he looked a little too curvy to be male. Smirking and closing my sketch-book, I hopped off my bed and slipped my shoes on, before rushing to the stairs and sliding down the banister, a trick Joey taught me.

CRASH!

Unfortunately, I needed to work on the landings.

"Carlin? What are you doing?"I heard my aunt call. Dammit, she heard me fall.

"Oh, nothing!"I called sheepishly, standing and brushing myself down. "I'm going down to the village, Marik said he'd bring water balloons!"

"Fine, but if you'll end up soaked if Yami throws one at you. He's got a very accurate aim!"

"Oookay... Bye!"

With that information, I bolted out of the door and into the sunlight. Today wasn't as hot as yesterday or the day before, but it was still shorts-and-a-t-shirt weather. I was actually coming to terms with the heat a little too, although when it frazzled my hair and dried my skin, I didn't thank it. As I approached the village, I noticed Joey standing with a girl a little smaller than me, laughing while she got annoyed. He leaned closer to her and said something, something that caused her to hit him in the back of the head with a large book she was holding. He fell to the ground and twitched a little in shock while the girl dusted her book off. She had curly blonde hair that fell to her shoulder-blade and turquoise eyes that still showed strong annoyance.

"Hey, didja _have_ to hit me like dat?"Joey groaned, raising his head from the gravel. "Dat _hurt_!"

"Good."the girl answered. "You deserved it."

My lips curved into a smile at the sight of Joey returning to his feet, muttering curses and God knows what else at the girl, who chose to ignore him.

"Hey Joey!"I called, walking over. "What'd you do this time?"

"_Carlin_! I didn't do _anythin'_!"he whined, seeing as I was taking the side of the stranger.

"Saying that Harry Potter is a pile of crap is _not_ nothing!"the girl interjected, glaring at the New Yorker again. He huffed and I raised my eyebrows.

"Sorry Joey, but I agree. Harry Potter is _amazing_."

"Aw, come on! I was only kiddin'!"he reasoned, looking between me and the blonde girl. Both of us kept our poker faces. Sighing, he turned and began walking toward the centre of the town.

"I'm goin' to meet Yami and Marik. Don't be too long or you'll miss the fun! You can come along too if ya want Fia!"he called, before disappearing in the small crowd that was forming. Shaking my head and turning to the other girl, I noticed the book in her hands. The front cover read:

_The Harry Potter Encyclopedia~ By Sophia Fujihara_

Harry Potter Encyclopedia? Since when was there one?

"So, you're the Carlin I know about."

I snapped my head up, a large and painful crack emanating from my neck as I did, and looked at the girl. Rubbing my neck and wincing slightly, I asked,

"Yeah... How d'you know about me?"

"I know many things..."

Right about now, she was starting to really freak me out. That was until she said,

"About Harry Potter! Joey told me all about you! I bet you thought I was a real weirdo just then!"

She laughed at my confused face and held a hand out,

"I'm Sophia Fujihara, but that's Fia to you!"

So _she_ was the one writing the encyclopedia...

I shook her hand and introduced myself more thoroughly, completely forgetting about going to meet Joey and the others. I inquired more into the book in her hands, and she said that she was the biggest (and proudest) Harry Potter nerd in the village, although she wanted the title of 'Biggest in Japan' and then 'Biggest in the World' later on. With no-one else to talk to about Harry Potter (at least, not in the village), she began writing the Harry Potter Encyclopedia, to share her knowledge with the paper, and hoped to one day get it published, therefore sharing her knowledge with the world. I was intrigued, being a big HP fan myself, and before we knew it, we were having an enormous discussion, including _everything_, from which Weasley twin was better, to which Death Eater was the least evil. Our talk came to an end after about 45 minutes, with the sound of the clock-tower bells ringing, signalling 11 o'clock.

"Crap. Frick. Dammit. Shoot."the vulgarity kept pouring from my mouth as I remembered telling everyone I'd be there by 10:30.

"Sophia, I've really gotta go. _N__ow_. Oh God, they're gonna kill me..."I muttered as I began to walk to the meeting place, not noticing Sophia starting to follow me. When I did realise, I sent her a questioning look and asked,

"What are you doing? Becoming my stalker?"

She smirked and shook her head, her frizzy curls bouncing off her face and shoulders.

"Joey said I could come if I wanted to, so I think I will. I don't trust that lot with you, 'specially not Marik. He hasn't tried _flirting_ with you, has he?"

I raised my eyebrows and nodded.

"How come _you're_ the one looking after me? How old are you anyway?"

"16."

She chuckled at my defeated face as we kept walking. Damn, how could she be older? She looked way _younger_! As we entered the village square, she said one last thing to me,

"By the way, I told you, call me Fia."

**~YGO!~**

"Where the frig have you been? We've been waiting for half an hour!"

Yes Marik, I'm well aware of that. No need to tell the entire town though.

"Yeah, did you two start talkin' 'bout Harry Potter?"Joey questioned. Both me and Sophia exchanged sceptical glances, before nodding.

"Why don't we start what we came here to do, rather than argue over something that's past us?"

Spoken like a true Philosopher, Yami.

After, Marik grinned and put a bucket down in front of him, full to the brim with water balloons. The rules were simple. Throw them at each other. Should they hit someone not involved in the game, deal with the consequences as they come.

Sophia placed her book on one of the tables of a nearby café, alongside Yami's pyramid pendant to keep them dry, while the rest of us took three balloons each and waited for Yami to start the game. Once we were all positioned, it was as simple as,

"3! 2! 1! Game start!"

Immediately I jumped out of the way of a balloon thrown by Marik, chucking one back that also missed. Yami was in the process of aiming a balloon at Marik's head, while Joey and Sophia were at close range, both already soaked with water and reaching for their next firing loads. Suddenly, two rushes of water hit the back of my head as both Yami and Marik threw their last balloons at me. Spinning around, grinning like a psycho maniac, I launched my remaining two balloons at them, both barely hitting as they scarpered. Marik's hair was damp, and my attack left him with a big wet patch on his bottom, while the back of Yami's black tank top was considerably darker than the rest, and my balloon had soaked the shins of his (leather?) pants. The fun continued for what felt like forever, becoming only more exciting when we discovered Marik had filled some of the balloons with mustard. It was humorous to say that we discovered the mustard-balloons when Marik _himself_ was hit with one, leaving him covered in the yellow liquid. By the time we were down to the last few balloons, the only one to have not been covered in mustard was Yami, who lived up to his reputation as a skilled balloon thrower/dodger. I was amazed though, that we had not hit anyone with the balloons. Sure, Joey almost hit a young boy, who temporarily joined the game until his mother called him back to her side, but all we managed to do was gather a large crowd to watch. I daresay I felt like an utter _moron_ running around with mustard dripping from my hair, but that was better than Marik and Sophia. Her curls were a mess of hair and mustard, quite the disturbing sight, while Marik was like a mustard _monster_. Almost completely covered in it, save for his face, he took no shame in smearing it deeper into his clothes and body. A sudden high pitched laugh from the crowd alerted me to turn around. Fluffy white hair caught my attention, and I immediately knew who was watching. Giggling uncontrollably from the front of the crowd was Ryou, an upturned hand trying to mask his laughs. I waved and laughed with him, before spotting the perfect target for my last balloon in Yami. Standing near a section of the crowd, showing off his dripping body to a group of hysteric 5 year-olds, he seemed unaware of anything else. Pulling my arm back and aiming for that smug face of his, I launched and smiled with anticipation, crossing my fingers for luck.

Stupid luck.

Yami turned his head ever so slightly, just enough to see the purple balloon out of the corner of his eye and swiftly moved his head, dodging the thing by a whole 3 inches. I growled in irritation, although that was all soon forgotten as the balloon hit a member of the crowd. Not in the face, but right in the neck and chest. My eyes widened and I completely froze as the man's face turned sour. It was then I realised that this was the blue-haired man who had helped Ryou when Kuroi kicked him. His father maybe?

The crowd sensed the bad atmosphere and began disbanding, everyone going back to doing their own thing. The man walked forward, so we were facing each other. Joey, Sophia, Yami and Marik lined up behind me. Ryou ran across and grabbed onto the man's arm, looking up to him with pleading puppy-dog eyes.

"Father, that was an accident! Don't get mad at her! She didn't mean to do that!"Ryou begged the man, but he stayed cold and serious. How could he deny those eyes?

"Yeah, I'm sorry, it was just an accide-"

"You were at the ranch yesterday, with Ryou. I thought you would be an okay girl, but if you're hanging around with these hooligans (indicating Joey, Marik and Yami), you can't be that great. All of you, stay _away_ from my son."

With that, he turned on heel and began walking back in the direction of the ranch. Ryou stood, mouth open and not sure what to say.

"Come on Ryou!"

"Y-yes Father!"he squeaked, sending us apologetic looks and running after him. None of us spoke as we watched them walk away, son a few feet behind father. Five minutes later, we were all still stood there, motionless as the town moved around us. I had hoped to befriend and get to know Ryou. Now, that was gonna get a whole lot harder...

* * *

**Hehe, there I go with my superior writing skills again. Now, lets see if anyone noticed,**

**'Game start'-a reference to Season 0. Yami _always_ says that before starting the Shadow Game :)**

**And some other things,**

**Dento drawing-based off a real drawing I did of him. He looked perfect, just too curvy to be of the male species.**

**Fia's Harry Potter obsession-a real trait of the person she's based on. I don't think she's written an encyclopedia, but she could.**

**Anyway, I'm glad I've gotten this posted. I go on holiday to Germany tomorrow, and don't come back until Sunday next week (I think). Believe me, if I hand't posted this now, I'd be real agitated all throughout the holiday XD Anyway, I hope you like the chapter, please review and lemme know what you think, and I'll be sure to read them when we find internet! ^_^**

**Mew Mew Radish ='.'=**


	4. Chapter 4

**Aloha! How've you all been? I'm fine, thank you very much for asking :) Well, here I am with Chapter 4 of Country Lovin'! I've gotta say, I'm updating this a lot more slowly than I first intended too, but life, anime and a lil' bit of writer's block keeps getting in the way. Ah well, the main thing is, I'm updating right? In that case, enjoy the chapter, with my apologies for it being a quite short and more of a filler if anything.**

**Disclaimer:** **私は****自分のゆうしていない 王 ああ！やアニメや文字のいずれかに言及した。私のOCは、カーリン、私が所有している唯一のものです。**

**(That basically says that I do not own Yu**-**Gi-Oh! or any of the anime or characters mentioned, just Carlin, in Japanese. Feel free to translate it, but it made no sense to me whatsoever, so meh)**

* * *

"Hey, Fia?"

"Yeah?"

"How long have you been writing that encyclopedia for?"

The blonde's head turned from the said book to look at me, her hand poised above the page she was writing on.

"Erm..."she hummed, tilting her head back and putting a finger to her chin, "I'm not really sure. I guess about a year now..."

I "Hm"ed and lay back, my hands behind my head and the large tree preventing the sun from reaching me. When the sun was too hot, I found it was quite helpful to have this tree next to my aunts' house. Sure, the heat still got to you, but at least you were spared the agony of the sun beating down on you too.

"So Carlin, what do you normally do in your spare time? I write the encyclopedia and go for runs, you...?"

"I guess I like to draw... I'm not sure if I'm any good or not, but I like to anyway, and I like watching anime and reading manga too."I explained.

"You're an artist, huh? Can I see some of your drawings?"she asked. I sat up and considered. On one hand, she may like my drawings. On another, she may hate them and come out with the harsh truth. On the third hand, she may not like them, but not want to say anything bad.

My conclusion: I didn't know I could have three hands.

"O-okay, just let me go and get some for you."

Fia smiled as I stood and walked into the house, then laughed as she heard my shriek when I was caught off-guard by the low, low temperature of the air-conditioning in the hallway. Once I was up in my room, I pulled my bag onto the bed, and searched through for my sketchpad.

"Pen... pencil... pencil... ruler... another pencil... Fullmetal Alchemist keyring? What the hell's _that_ doing in here?"I stared at my Edward Elric keyring for a moment, before tossing it aside and continuing my search, "Rubber... pencil... ah! Sketchbook!"

I held it up to the light in a very dramatic fashion as I took in the sight of my beautiful sketchbook. With a starry sky pattern on the covers and a picture of Shigure Sohma glued to the inside of the front cover, it was my dear sketchpad. Taking no notice of the mess I'd made on my bed when upturning my bag, I bolted from my room and headed back to Sophia.

"I've got the book with all my best drawings, so just have a look through, 'kay?"I said as I handed her the book. As soon as she opened the front cover, she smirked.

"What?"I questioned sharply, as the smirk turned into laughs.

"_Someone_ has a little crush on a certain _dog_."

It was then that I flushed a hard red and tried to grab my book back from her. How could I have forgotten? As she laughed hysterically from my failed attempt, she rolled onto her back and let the pad fall onto the grass beside her, showing what was making her laugh so. The picture of Shigure. How could I have forgotten that I'd put a heart around it in red marker pen, and then proceeded to fill the entire page with things such as 'I love Shigure' and 'Shigure Sohma 4 ever'?

Snapping the book shut, I huffed at the older girl who was gradually calming down and sitting back up. So what if I had a crush on Shigure? He was the funniest pervert I'd ever seen, and just completely gorgeous in any case.

"Okay, okay, I won't say anything to anyone, just let me look at the drawings."she smiled. I sighed and handed the book back over to her, watching as she opened the front cover again, doing her best to ignore the Shigure shrine and concentrate on the first drawing. It was one of Minto from Tokyo Mew Mew, quite possibly my favourite character from the show.

"That's quite good... the shading's almost perfect at least..."Sophia mumbled, turning the page to the next pictures. Edward Elric (hence my keyring) and Misaki from Junjou Romantica.

"I didn't know you liked yaoi animes."Fia said, raising her eyebrows at me. Smirking I replied,

"Didn't know you knew what they were."

Smiling and choosing not to reply, she turned the page again. On one page was Sasuke Uchiha, the other, the Ouran Host Club.

"Good job with Sasuke, you've really captured his emo side."I chuckled, then let her continue, "That's a good picture of the Host Club too, even _if_ you prove the fact that you can't draw the same thing twice with the twins."

I shrugged and agreed as she turned to look at my final pages of drawings.

"Some guy who looks like Marik and another, really curvy guy, who I've never seen before?"

I looked at the pictures and rolled my eyes, realising she needed to have the characters explained to her.

"The guy who looks like Marik is called Melvin, he's from a show called Yu-Gi-Oh!: The Abridged Series or YGOTAS for short. The other one is Dento from Pokemon. He's the new male travelling companion. I think his name's Cilan in the English version."

"Ooooh... right."

Closing the book and setting it aside, Sophia smiled and left a silence between us. The only sounds were the distant murmur of the village and the little bird nesting in the tree next to us.

"So...?"I asked, anticipating her thoughts on my art.

"So what?"she asked, arching her eyebrows at me. I sighed and continued,

"So what do you think of my drawings?"

"Oh, _that_!"she emphasized, snapping her fingers as she 'remembered', "They're not the best drawings I've ever seen, but you're well on your way to being a good artist. A little more practice and a little colour to your work, and you could sell it. I know I'd definitely buy it."

A grin spread across my face as I reflected on her words. 'Not the best I've ever seen' meant nothing to me, because someone _liked_ my art. Someone actually thought it was _good_. They thought I could _sell_ it! They said they'd _buy_ it!

"Hey, don't let it get to your head! You'll never improve if you don't take advice seriously!"Fia snapped, bringing me out of my head. Geez, I needed to learn how to take a compliment. I cleared my throat and replied,

"Yeah... thanks though. I never thought my art was that great, but knowing that you think it's okay is a relief!"

We both smiled and lay back, basking in the heat that slithered under the tree and relaxing in the midday melancholy. It felt nice to be able to do this, and my mind drifted back to my parents in Domino City. I'd only been gone 5 days, but I already wondered how they were. I'm not the type to get homesick though, don't get my priorities wrong. I mean, here I was, relaxing in the fresh and lush countryside, when my parents were most likely working, my father as head chef at 'Las especias Cielo', a popular Mexican restaurant, and my mother as a secretary at Kaiba Corp. I shuddered at the thought of ever having to work for Seto Kaiba. While it was said that the young CEO was very handsome and popular with the ladies (hell, even my mother thought so), it was also said that he was cold-hearted and cared for no-one but himself and his little brother, Mokuba. He also happened to attend Domino High, which would have worried me, had it not been the fact that he was about to start his last year there. Thoughts of home, my parents, Kaiba and school whizzed around my head as I failed to notice Joey, Yami and Marik appearing in front of us, evidently carrying news. I was still too wrapped up in my thoughts as they told Sophia the news, and she agreed to help them with something. I was finally dragged out of my mind as Joey crouched down next to me and yelled, "BROOKLYN RAGE~!", right in my ear. I screamed a little and jolted upright to the laughter of everyone around me. I blushed and laughed along with them, but not before giving Joey a 'friendly' clip around the head to say thank you.

"So Carly, you going to help?"Marik asked, helping me to my feet. I stared at him and immediately realised that I'd missed something.

"Help with what?"

"Help Ryou find his horse. I was down there earlier today, and he said that he was going to go out and look in the valley for him. I told him that I'd get some help."Yami explained, "It actually took me quite a while to get him to agree, he was insistent on wanting to find Kuroi by himslef, something about, 'Not wanting to inconvienience anyone'."

"He's looking for Kuroi? I guess I may as well help. I can't guarantee I'll be of much help though, I'm not the most observant person ever."I said, as we began to walk down towards the village.

"It doesn't really make much difference, as long as we're helpin' Ryou, dat's the main thing. And anyway, da more help we get, da better our chances of findin' his horse."Joey told me.

"I suppose."

As we kept walking, my mind wandered to Ryou, and how upset he was when Kuroi ran away. If anything, it would be nice to cheer him up by returning his horse.

_'I still can't believe I stood hugging him when I'd barely known him 1 hour though...'_

I rolled my eyes at the thought, and concentrated on following Yami and Fia, proudly leading the group down to the ranch. It was then the heat reminded me of something quite important.

I'd left my sketchbook outside, under the tree.

Well, frick.

* * *

**Well, there's your little filler! While writer's block has been unkind while writing this chapter, I know exactly what I'm gonna do for the next one, so I can _promise_ you that an update will come more quickly for the next chapter :) Before I go though, did anyone like the YGOTAS reference? XD I couldn't resist, since Melvin is such an awesome character. Oh! I'll tell you what, if my next update takes more than a month, I'll let Melvin hug me and give me cancer as a punishment.**

**Melvin: I'll be waiting, my dear... My arms are open for you...**

**MMR: Oookay... As much as I would love to hug him, I don't want cancer, so I'll see you for an update in less than a month!**

**Ja Ne!**

**Mew Mew Radish** **='.'= & Melvin O_O  
**


	5. Chapter 5

**Heya! Not much to say, except I don't think this chapter took as long as the previous one, so no Melvin-Hug for me!**

**Melvin: Damn. And I was really looking forward to giving you cancer too. Maybe I should just give you a hug anyway... *moves to hug her***

**Marik: Look out! *shoves Melvin away and hugs her instead***

**MMR: *hugs back* This is even better than a Melvin-Hug! ^_^ Enjoy the chapter while I enjoy Marik-chan!**

**Disclaimer: MewMewRadish لا تملك يو غي أوه! انها لا بلدها قائد في كارلن وصوفيا (_sunshinedasies_)**

**(the disclaimer's in Arabic. I thought it would be nice to have it in Marik's native tongue :D)**

* * *

"Y-yami... I had no idea you'd find so many people to help..."

I turned my head and pretended to stare at a passing butterfly, to try and mask the smirk that had undeniably covered my face. I really shouldn't want to be laughing, but Ryou's face had no real word to describe it. The sheer shock of Yami bringing Joey, Marik, Fia _and_ me to help look for Kuroi was enough to make his eyes almost double in size and his mouth to hang slightly agape. I also couldn't deny, he looked pretty cute like that. Believe me when I say, any fangirl would suffocate him through hugs and glomps with _that_ face.

"Yes, I'm surprised myself that Joey and Marikdecided to come and help. I would've thought they had something more... _pleasurable _to do..."Yami said, emphasizing '_pleasurable_' way more than what was needed. Me and Sophia looked over at them to see Yami snickering to himself, and the two other boys with furious blushes on their faces, their eyes in the opposite direction of the others face. We frowned and shook our heads, turning out attention back to Ryou, who had obviously missed the joke too.

"Yes... erm, anyway, thank you all for agreeing to help me. It means a lot, really."

He gave us all a wide and cheerful smile, as well as a small bow.

"It's no problem. Anyway, me and Fia have sat and done nothing for the past 2 days anyw-don't give me that look, Sophia! We _have_!"I stated, ignoring the pouting that Sophia was shooting me. She scowled and rolled her eyes, earning a laugh from all the boys.

"Ryou! Who's there? Who are you talking to?"

A familiar man's voice with a British accent rang out from the house next to the ranch. The next thing any of us knew, was the presence of a tall man with blue hair. Ryou's father.

**~YGO!~**

"I thought I told you to stay _away_ from my son. _All_ of you."

"F-father! Don't be like that! They're here to-"

"Be quiet, Ryou!"

"Y-yes father..."

My eyebrow gave an anime-like twitch as I watched Ryou back down and stand, fingers interlocked and head bowed, not saying a word.

"Hey, don't be like dat to your own son! If you hadn't _interrupted_ him so rudely, you'd've heard him say dat we're here to help him find his horse!"Joey snapped.

"Yeah, all we're trying to do is help him! Geez, we play _one game_ of water-slash-mustard balloon throwing, and suddenly we're hooligans out to terrorize everyone? You need to sort your priorities out!"Marik spat. Ryou's head shot up, a look of terror in his eyes as they flashed between the back of his father's head and Marik's face. I sensed that Marik had crossed the line with that remark, and without giving any thought to my actions, I blurted out,

"If this is because I hit you with that balloon, I said I'm sorry, but there's not much I can do otherwise."

The older man 'humph!'ed and went back to the door he had supposedly came out of. Before walking in though, he turned to us all and said,

"You had better bring my son back in one piece. If I find _one_ scratch on him, you'll pay for it."

Once he was gone, I saw Ryou give a little sigh before turning to us, his normal cheery smile replacing his previous look, as though nothing had happened. I swear I shall never understand how the boy does it.

"So Ryou, how're we going to search for Kuroi? You don't expect us to _walk_, do you?"Sophia asked. I could see her crossing her fingers behind her back, hoping, no, _praying_, that we wouldn't be walking.

"No, of course not! The valley were he ran off into is an enormous place, we'd never be able to search it by foot."Ryou said, "Since there's an even number of us, I suggest that we search in two's."

"That still doesn't explain how we're not going to be walking."

Ryou gave a little laugh before walking into the ranch. Not long after, he re-emerged, holding the reins of a tall, strong looking chestnut horse. It had a pompous air about it, the way it walked with grace and pride and the way it flaunted its shiny mane with each step.

"We won't be walking Sophia, because we can use the other horses that I have. If we use the well-built ones, they'll be able to carry two of us each."

"Ooooh... right."

Sophia nodded and her face broke out into a large smile. I held back a snicker. I knew Sophia loved horses almost as much as Harry Potter, so this was like a dream come true for her.

"Err, Ry, one problem here. I can't ride." Joey said, rubbing the back of his head.

"You don't need too. Me, Marik and Ryou can all ride, so there's enough of us to take the others." Yami told him, "Tell you what, why don't you go with Marik, I'll go with Sophia, and Carlin can go with Ryou? We'll meet back here in 4 hours. Everyone know what they're doing? Good. Come on Fia, lets go."

With that, Yami took the reins of the pompous horse from Ryou, mounted, grabbed Sophia's wrist and dragged her onto the horse. She yelped and was seated behind him before she could argue. As they rode into the valley, the two could be heard arguing, until Yami whispered something to her. The last the remaining four saw of them before they disappeared into the hills, was Sophia turning around to look at Marik and Joey, a devilish grin on her face.

"What the hell was that all about?"I asked, earning a shrug from everyone.

"Well, if you're all alright with what Yami said, I can go and get the horses."Ryou said, sounding a little unsure with his words.

"I suppose."Marik said, and Ryou rounded the door, into the ranch again. This time he walked back out leading two horses by the reins. One was a dull grey, the other a fine coffee colour. He handed the reins of the coffee coloured horse to Marik, before walking back over to me with the grey one. He mounted first, sliding his leg over with ease and then extending his hand to me. I took it and tried my best to look even the slightest bit dignified as I practically scrambled on. Once I sat behind Ryou, I could see he was giggling lightly from my display. I huffed slightly and raised my eyebrows, causing a giggly apology to escape his lips, before a loud laugh alerted us to Joey and Marik. Marik already sat atop the horse, watching in hysterics as Joey _tried_ to mount behind him.

"Hey Marik, gimme a hand here!"

The only reply from the young Egyptian was another round of laughter as Joey once again scrambled onto the saddle, only to slide off the other end immediately.

"Come on Marik, give him a hand! Honestly, we're never going to find Kuroi if Joey can't mount!"I cried, breaking his laughs into giggles. Still though, he refused to help Joey up.

"Right, dats it. You won't help me? I'll help myself."Joey said, determination ringing in his voice. Me and Ryou exchanged unsure glances, before looking back to see Joey running at the back of Marik's horse. He jumped and vaulted onto the back end, straight into Marik's back, who gave a big jolt and "Oof!" at the contact.

"Joey, you friggin' frigstick! That friggin' _hurt_!"Marik yelled, rubbing his back and the bottom of his head. My yaoi fangirl senses began to kick in a little as Joey embraced the other boy from behind, resting his chin on Marik's shoulder and stroking his sides.

"I'm sorry buddy... forgive me?"

"I-I suppose..."

They were talking in mere whispers now, so me and Ryou could barely hear them, but their actions spoke louder than their words.

"Oi, are you gonna sit and hug all day? Get moving!"I yelled, urging Marik to go. They both blushed, and Marik quickly set his horse off at a gallop in a random direction, Joey clinging to his waist and burying his face in the Egyptian's blonde locks. Once they were out of sight, Ryou turned to me and asked,

"Are those two... erm, you know... going out?"

I shrugged.

"Who knows? That's the only suggestive thing I've ever seen them do, although Sophia said on the way down here that Marik and Joey had been blushing and acting awkwardly since they arrived with Yami to get us. I must've been thinking too much to notice."

"Oh... we should get going."Ryou said, and I nodded as he started walking the horse in a direction not taken by the others.

"Um, Carlin?"

"Yeah?"

"You'll have to hold onto me. If we want to get anywhere, we've got to go faster."

I sighed and slid my arms around him, feeling how warm he was. It brought back all the memories of our first meeting. I still scolded myself for hugging him that day. It was inappropriate, we'd just met!

"Okay, hold on tight."

"Fine, but don't blame me if I crush you. I've never ridden like this before, and if I feel like I'm going to fall off, I've got a strong grip."

Ryou let out a cute little laugh.

"I'm sure you'll be fine!"

And with that, we set off, dashing through the valley, the small breeze whipping at our faces. It felt relaxing, and while holding onto Ryou, it was like I was flying with a teddy bear. I could tell my unruly hair would be even more of a mess once we stopped, but I could care less. I had bigger things to worry about.

Like Ryou's hair.

As nice as his hair was, the white cotton-candy-like cloud was blowing directly into my face with it being so long. It obstructed my view and barely missed my mouth, instead giving me a good idea of what sort of shampoo this boy used. If, by chance, his hair _had _ended up in my mouth though, it would have tasted like apples and strawberries. Nice.

A while later, as we rode deeper and deeper into the valley, losing sight of the village and ranch, I completely lost my patience with Ryou's hair. Reaching into my pocket and pulling out a red hair bobble, I pulled his hair back and tied it in a bun at the back of his head. The horse suddenly halted and Ryou turned around, confusion shown all over his pale face.

"W-what did you do?"he asked timidly, reaching back and feeling the bun.

"Your hair is too long when it comes to riding like this."I smiled, earning a blush and embarrassed smile from him, "I just made things more comfortable for me. Besides, I think it suits you."

"R-really?"

I nodded and Ryou started fiddling with the strands of hair and fringe that framed his face, a smile gracing his lips.

"I don't think this is such a bad idea! This way, I won't get my hair blowing in my eyes!"

I nodded pompously as the snowy-haired boy exclaimed his joy, brought back to reality only by one particular comment,

"If you teach me how to do these, I can give you one! Then I could give Marik one! Then Sophia! And maybe I could try with Joey and Yami too!"

My eyebrow gave another anime-twitch and I nodded slowly.

"_Sure_... I'll teach you once we find Kuroi..."

I said it slowly, crossing my fingers behind my back as Ryou gave another sunshine-smile. As he turned and continued to ride on, I sighed. Ryou learning to put his own hair up in a bun was something. Learning to put the whole world's in a a bun was another. Maybe I would teach him, maybe not. First I would have to test the phrase,

Looks can be deceiving.

And at the minute, the mental image of devil Ryou running around with millions of bobbles strewn over his arms, causing chaos in the hair department, proved that phrase to be _very _true...

* * *

**Hooray for random endings! Yeah, I'm not that pleased with how this chapter came out, but meh. Oh, and before you all get the wrong idea, Ryou's father is _not_ abusive! He's just extremely protective over his son, for reasons that will be explained in later chapters! **

**Speaking of later chapters, you may have noticed Joey and Marik acting a little odd? Most (okay, all) of you will know why, so be prepared for madness :)**

**Marik: Madness? This... Is... SPARTA!**

**MMR: XD Good one Mari! Anyhow, please leave a review, and if you're interested in finding out what Carlin looks like, go to my profile, click on the link to my deviantArt page and keep an eye on it over the next few days! I'm going to try and get Carlin's design up soon, as well as a possible one for Sophia!**

**Bai!**

**Radish ='.'= & Marik :)**


	6. Chapter 6

**Yeeeah ^^;**

**Writer's block hit me ridiculously hard with this chapter, so I apologise for the wait. This is just a short chapter to move things on a little, and to build up Ry and Carlin's relationship a little, but I'm still pretty proud of it :)**

**Disclaimer: Yu-Gi-Oh! is not mine ¬¬ It belongs to Kazuki Takahashi, and Season 4 of GX also belongs to 4Kids. Just a random fact I found out ^^**

* * *

"Ryou, how long d'you reckon this is gonna take?"

"I'm not sure..."

"_Fabulous(!)_"

I let out a huge, exasperated breath and proceeded to glare at the back of Ryou's head. I had no watch and no way of telling how long we had been out here, but it felt like _days_. In the time (however long that may have been) we had been out here, I had gotten saddle-sore, Ryou had almost slid off the horse and both of us had failed to spot any sort of life whatsoever, never mind a black horse. Maybe the others were having more luck...

**With Yami and Sophia...**

"I'm telling you, he's _that way_!"

"No, I'm sure he'll be over _that way_!"

"Yami, you're _always wrong_!"

"I am not! You're just embarrassed that you didn't see him run over in that direction in the first place!"

"... you saw Kuroi run over to the left?"

"It looked like a shadow in the shape of a horse, I didn't get a good look before it disappeared behind the hill, but I'm _sure_ it was Kuroi."

"Have it your way... but if you're dragging me on a wild goose chase, I swear I'll kick you."

"Whatever you say Sophia..."

**With Joey and Marik...**

"... so, did ya see the movie on TV last night?"

"No, I was doing... something else..."

"What were ya doin' Marik?"

"... helping Ishizu bake a cake..."

"Really? You, bake a cake? It must've tasted awful!"

"Hey! Ishizu and Odion said it tasted just fine!"

"Oh... sorry bud... Hey Marik?"

"Yeah Joey?"

"Can you make me a cake sometime?"

**Back to Ryou and Carlin...**

"Hey, Carlin?"

"Yeah, Ryou?"

"W-what's that?"

"Huh?"

I looked up and followed Ryou's pointing finger. My face broke out into a wide smile and I could see Ryou's do the same.

"It's Kuroi!"he squealed, nudging our horse in the side and setting off across the valley towards the said stallion. I gave a small scream and quickly grabbed onto Ryou before I could fall off. He hissed and I realised I had grabbed him _right_ where Kuroi kicked him. Whoops. I quickly moved my hands to his waist as he continued to breathe through gritted teeth, and I began to come up with my apology,

_'I'm sorry Ryou, it's just that you set the horse off so bloody fast, with no warning, that I almost fell off. Any you of all people should know, that if that had happened, I could've been bloody killed! Therefore, I think the apo-'_

"Carlin! Carlin! CARLIN!"

I snapped away from my thoughts to the face of Ryou, calling out my name with a hint of desperation.

"What?"

"Um! S-sorry! I-I didn't mean to startle you... just, can you ride this horse while I try to get closer to Kuroi?"

My eyebrow twitched.

"Didn't I already say that I've _never_ ridden before?"

"I-I know, but you'll be fine, I promise! This horse is really quite tame, he prefers it when he just has to walk anyway!"

I looked at Ryou with a disapproving look. Big mistake. I was met by two chocolate brown pools of innocence, silently begging for me to do as he asked. I sighed frustratedly.

"Fine, fine, I'll do it."

Damn, that boy could really get to people.

His smile practically engulfed to lower half of his face as he thanked me and dis-mounted, leaving me to sift forward and take the reins. He ran off towards Kuroi, slowing as he went nearer and nearer, before finally calling out his name in a soft voice. The black horse turned to look at him, but made no movement to get closer to Ryou. Instead, Ryou slowly inched forward, holding his hand out to Kuroi. The horse studied his face and hand, sniffing at Ryou's scent before taking a step forward and nuzzling his hand. Ryou smiled again and shot it back at me. I returned it as Kuroi moved forward again, nuzzling into Ryou's face and hair, making him giggle and cry out,

"Stop! That tickles!"

I laughed and attempted to move my horse closer to Ryou. It wasn't as easy as he made it look. _No way_...

I pulled firmly on the reins and gave the horse a light kick, causing it to jolt backwards. I jumped and muffled a cry.

"Carlin, d'you need a hand with that?"

"Yes actually, I do. How the hell d'you steer this thing?"

Ryou giggled and walked over to me, pulling Kuroi behind him. He stopped next to me and explained the basics, giving it a small nudge to make it walk, a harder one to make it trot and a soft kick to make it run. Using the reins was simpler than I'd made it out to be, it was simply pulling them in the direction you wanted to go in. I felt like a complete _idiot_ afterwards having had to ask for help.

"So... have you understood everything?"

"Yeah, pretty much."

"That's good! Now, why don't we go back to the ranch?"

"Sounds like a plan to me!"

Ryou mounted Kuroi, petting him and cooing affectionately as he did and we began the ride back to the ranch. Or what I hoped was the ranch. I was trusting Ryou to not screw up with his sense of directions, and my rumbling stomach was in the same boat. As we came closer to the top of a tall hill, I could see the rooftops of the village building and the distinct red of the ranch just over it. I smiled and craned my neck, trying to see more of the civilisation in front of us, only to be blocked my Ryou's head. His bun had almost fallen out now, and a small part of it still lay in the bobble, while the rest fell around his shoulders and face.

_'Trust a boy to ruin my perfectly good handiwork...'_

The clock-tower rang out as the time reached 5pm. No wonder I was so hungry.

"Hey, Carlin?"

"Yeah?"

"Didn't Yami say to meet up four hours from 12 o'clock?"

"_Yeah...?_"I didn't like where this was going.

"Well... it's been five hours since 12 o'clock, and well... no-body's back..."

"Oh you are fricking kidding me! Does that mean we have to go and look for them all? I'm _starving_, I don't have the motivation to look for them!"

Ryou gave a small, apologetic, smile and replied,

"I think it would be in our best interest to try and find them. I've been lost out there before, and it's not really a pleasant experience..."

"Alright, let's go. I'd like to have my dinner at some point tonight."

With a giggle from Ryou, we set off again, in the direction we had just came. The sun was beginning to set over the hills, casting long, dark shadows throughout the valley. A few clouds began to hover over the valley also, casting even more shadows around us. We began to call out for our friends, trotting over here, searching over there to try and find them. Half an hour into our search, Ryou tapped my arm and held something out to me. A red bobble sat in his palm.

"The bun was falling out, and I wouldn't want to lose this."

I took it back, thanking him, and then we both returned to calling out. The sun was almost completely gone from the sky when we finally found half of what we were looking for. Just not exactly in the _position_ we counted on...

* * *

**^^ Okay, I'm all geared up with what to do next chapter, so I'll get it written up quickly!**

**Melvin: *laughs* You're probably gonna take another **EFF!**ing month again, aren't you? **

**MMR: NO! I won't take that long! It's just that with my school year coming to an end and stuff, everything's going a lot quicker and I forget to write...**

**Melvin: No, you just want to write your Puzzleshipping story :3 That's it, isn't it?**

**MMR: Melvin, there is one chapter left until that thing is finished ಠ_ಠ And anyway, it's only a short story...**

**Melvin: *laughs***

**MMR: ¬¬; As I said, I promise I'll get this updated soon (by the end of the week if I feel good and generous ^^), but until then,**

**Ja Ne!**

**Mew Mew Radish =^.^= & Melvin XD  
**


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